


Pretty Fly

by redsprite



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Ineffable Bureaucracy (Good Omens), Nonbinary Beelzebub (Good Omens), Other, Pain Kink, Praise Kink, could probably use some more, hope I used enough exclamation marks to write Gabriel, more a forechannel I guess, no beta we discorporate like men, not a backchannel, purification kink, why flies are a power source in Hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 20:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19838374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redsprite/pseuds/redsprite
Summary: Sometimes, you’re a Prince of Hell who just wants to get some tricky negotiations done.Sometimes, you just want to tempt the Archangel Gabriel to do a very bad thing.Sometimes, you get to do both.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s note: This work is greatly inspired by DictionaryWrites of the Gabriel Defense Squad. Thanks!

Technically, Beelzebub, Prince of Hell, and the Archangel Gabriel met up from time to time to compare their records and exchange non-classified information. They never skipped a meeting. There was just so much to discover and discuss. The need to bring guards had gone away a long, long time ago, after realizing that they were both too high-ranking and powerful to be held back by any lower level angel or demon guard anyway, and that they had way more to gain from letting each other live.

Their meetings became more varied, and more interesting since they had agreed to hold them on Earth. Gabriel still refused to eat or drink, but Beelzebub had discovered drinks that came with big straws and indulged themselves shamelessly, both in drink and company. There were many drinks, and it was a lot of Archangel, it would be a shame to let it all go to waste.

Now that the Antichrist had been born, Beelzebub was filled with more much sense of urgency or purpose. Officially, Heaven didn‘t know. Beelzebub had made sure though that someone in Heaven knew. They weren‘t sure if Gabriel knew, but seeing that he was a lot more energetic these days, he either knew or picked up the mood.

Beelzebub was looking forward to Armageddon. After all these centuries in Hell, they were simply done. Done, done, done. They didn‘t even care too much which way the last big war would end, as long as this ended, and as long as they could get as many of their people through it. They ought to be excited about living in the endtimes, they should feel nostalgia, or write a bucket list. Beelzebub did none of that. But they did meet the Archangel more often. 

Today, they were meeting in a suite of rooms that were so spacious and bright and clean that Beelzebub felt a bit upset about letting the stupid featherbrain choose the location. Beelzebub knew what Heaven looked like, and they had no intention to get reminded of it any more than necessary. They had to suppress the urge to spit somewhere. Well. Maybe later.

Right now they had to keep it together while Gabriel, ridiculously big with no sense for personal space, extended his extemely friendly and well-meaning and loud welcome.  
Ugh. It was so cute they wanted to bite him.

“You don‘t have your flies with you today?“ asked Gabriel, handing the Prince of Hell a huge drink with a straw in. He most probably had no idea what it was, but with all the layers and colors involved, it would be highly unhealthy, and Beelzebub approved of that very much.  
They took a great sip. Yes, very bad. Perfect.

“Juzt a few. I thought they might be a diztraction.“

Oh no. The sappy smile. Two minutes in, and he was already getting like that. 

“That‘s so considerate of you. But I don‘t mind them. What, these tiny things? Not a problem!“

“Zo you don‘t hate them?“

Gabriel was baffled.

“Hate them? Why would I hate them? In the end, they‘re all God‘s creatures and have their place in the world, and their duties, I‘m sure.“

If there was one thing Beelzebub didn‘t take well (in fact, there were many things, but this was definitely one of them), it was the usual angelic technobabble that they all seemed to blurt out without even listening to themselves.

They took some extra big and greedy sips to make a point. Their eyes gleamed. “Do you know what fliez do, Gabriel?“

Gabriel shrugged apologetically. “Not really, no. I‘m sure it‘s important.“

“They eat the dead, and decayed flezh.“

“Ah!“ he beamed. “I understand! Circle of life! Did you see the Lion King? I have to show you the musical version one day! Flies eat the dead! Excellent little animals! And they‘re beautiful, too!“

“Yez, they are.“

“They have these colors where the light hits them? Really excellent! Good choice!“

“I didn‘t chooze them for their lookz, I choze them becauze they‘re of uze to me.“

The penny still didn‘t drop.

“Yes, of course, you value efficiency! A very commendable trait!“

Beelzebub gave it up. Sometimes even the least subtle of hints just bounced off Gabriel and there was nothing anyone could do about it but keep at it. But if there’s one thing flies had, and Beelzebub with them, it was perseverance.

They settled in what they still called “a conference room“, even though "a different hotel suite each time“ would have been more accurate, and when they spoke of their desk, it was really more of a coffee table in front of a couch where they sat just close enough to smell each other, and maybe sometimes touch.

It was there that Gabriel suddenly fell silent in the middle of a rant about architecture. Eerily silent. And he stared. Beelzebub didn‘t like stares, not from this one. And not this kind.

"What iz it now?“

"Beelz...“

"What?“

"There are… worms… in that gash on your neck...“

"They‘re not wormz. They‘re maggotz.“ 

Of course he had no idea what maggots were. The Allmighty, upon creating Gabriel, had clearly focussed all Her attention on appearance. One of Her better choices, but like all Her choices, aggravating after a while. 

"They‘re young fliez, Gabriel. Fly children.“

Gabriel blinked, shook his head, and his confusion turned into curiosity. He stared again, but this time out of interest. 

"They don‘t look like flies at all.“

"No, they don‘t. They undergo a complete metamorphoziz between young and adult ztage.“

Like demons, they thought, who had once been dumb, wiggly, white things and then had dissolved and formed into something sleek and dark and way more purposeful. But they didn‘t say it aloud. Gabriel had enough new information to digest, not something that came easy to him, and it was surprising that he still kept wanting more.

"But Beelz… they‘re eating you?“

"Remember what I told you about what fliez eat? Maggotz eat the same.“

Slowly, something dawned on Gabriel.

"But Beelz… you‘re not dead… or decaying… ?“

Beelz wanted to give him a sharp reply, but made the mistake to look him in the face, and his confusion and worry were so appalling that words failed them. It was also kind of cute. Why was everything this guy did so annoying and at the same time tempting? 

But he had said that their flies were beautiful. They would grant him another ounce of their rare and precious patience. They couldn‘t help becoming a bit annoyed though. How could he not know? How could he not know such a fundamental reality of their existence? Did angels really not care about anything but their own holy asses?

"Of courzze I‘m not dead. Do I look dead to you? I‘m decaying like everyone who zzpendzz time in Hell. I told you, I keep the fliezz because they‘re uzzeful. They eat all the decaying partzz, and then I grow new onezz. It‘z much fazter and cleaner than shedding rotten flezh, and a lot lezz painful. I give them food, they give me company and ztrength.“

After a few long, silent moments Gabriels face lit up. "Oh, now I understand! You‘re an ecosystem! You‘re… you‘re… symbiotic lifeforms! We‘ve had the most instructive presentations on this kind of thing, only about when humans do it. We‘ve been incouraged to take a greater interest in humans these days, and it‘s fascinating! I never thought that demons could do the same! It sounds like such a wholesome, mutually beneficial thing!“

"Gabriel! There‘zz no need to inzzult me like thizz!“

Gabriel quickly put up his hands in an apologetic way. His enormous hands. For a moment, Beelzebub lost themselves in the thought of biting them, each finger, and taste the blood, finding out if the myth was true that body fluids of angels were holy enough to leave burns and bruises, or worse…  
But no. Now was not the moment to think of entertainment. One day. One day, maybe even today, they would bite Gabriel. But not now, in the middle of him learning a new thing. That had to be entertaining enough. In a way, it was.

"I‘m sorry, Beelz, I didn‘t mean it in a bad way.“

"That‘zz what izz inzzulting.“

"But you love your flies!“

"I keep them in zzervitude and appreciate the aezzthetic!“

"But that‘s… ooh!“ It could take a while for Gabriel to do the mental rotation that dealing with demons required, but he got better at it. He definitely did. "Oh, I get it! Yes! Of course! That‘s what you do! Well done! Very clever! I mean, how evil of you!“

The wave of excitement had to ebb away before the next thought had space to form. 

"But Beelz… if this works so well, why don‘t all demons have flies?“

Usually, Beelzebub wasn‘t really up for endless questions, but this was different. Flies were something that they didn‘t mind talking about.

"They do. They have to, in order to keep their bodiezz going. And all fliezz and maggotzz obey me, zzo noone who wantz to keep their body would dare to crozz me. But they only uzze maggotz, almozzt no one wantz to keep the adult fliez. They zay they don‘t like the conztant buzzing.“

"But the buzzing is nice.“

 _Nice_. Beelzebub had to do a quick mental rotation themselves. Angels probably couldn‘t help themselves when it came to loving something, especially if it was small and shiny. 

"It izz very soozzing, and when I have work to do, it blockzz all the noizze that would dizztract me.“

Gabriel was back on his big smile bullshit. "You know, I wish I had known all this earlier! The intricacies of bodies are endlessly fascinating! And your flies are not only beautiful, but also they take good care of you! I shall appreciate them even more now!“

Beelzebub couldn‘t stop themselves, after so much patient explaining and the onslought of four letter words and ugh, affection, they deserved a bit of fun. "There izz a lot more about the intricazziezz of bodiezz that I can teach you.“

"Oh, that‘s great! I really appreciate the offer! I guess you must have an encyclopedic knowledge of flies! This is all so fascinating!“

Maybe it had gone over Gabriel‘s head entirely. But maybe he also looked at their neck with a lot more interest than the maggots warranted. Beelzebub didn‘t encourage him further – yet – but they began to understand what had Crowley so badly hooked on tempting an angel. 

+

Their patience was rewarded when, after a while, Gabriel brought it up again.

"So you… always have some part of your body… disintegrating.“

"Trying to, Gabriel. Not suczzeding, azz you can clearly zzee.“

"Is it painful?“

_Of course it is, what else would be the point?_

"Zometimez.“

"As you don‘t have so many of your helpful companions with you today, do you think I could try and heal some of these… lesions? “

Beelzebub gave him a very piercing look. "Like what? Touch me where it hurtz the mozt? Blazt me with angelic miracle energy? Burn the bad out of me?“

Gabriel sputtered. "I… I… didn‘t mean it like that...“

Beelzebub gave him an actual smile. A small one. He‘d have to do much better for a bigger one. 

"I didn‘t zay I wouldn‘t like it.“

"You… what? But why?“

_Because it would be you doing it._

"Intentions matter, Gabe. If you‘d try to burn me out of rightouznezz, because you despize me, or my body, or the evil that markz me, I wouldn‘t let you near me. You would find that I can burn you back quite awfully. But if it‘z done to pleaze me, or to zerve me, that‘z different. Look at my fliez. I could allow you to be one of my pretty fliez, if your intentionz are juzt to bite me better, not to eat me alive.“

That was a lot for Gabriel to process, but one thing made it through quick fast. "I wouldn‘t try to kill you, of course not, we‘re not at war...“

Beelzebub smiled again.

"Really? You‘d pazz the chanze to zmite a Prinze of Hell who truzted you enough to let you touch them?“

"I… Beelz! I really wouldn‘t. I didn‘t say that to deceive you. I was just curious.“

"Curiozity is good, Gabe. You know what would burn me even lezz? If your intentionz were lezz pure. If you pushed that curiozity zome more, bring out that hedonizm that pickz out your clothez. The lezz angelic your intentionz are, the lezz zevere the damage will be.“

Demons are liars. Powerful demons are amazing liars. The most powerful demons, like Beelzebub, had a way to harness truth and lies equally. Perhaps they would burn, perhaps they would make themselves look like it. It only had to be true enough for Gabriel. Who obviously didn‘t remember that burning did no lasting damage to a demon, but was certain to put fear in the heart of an angel. Mentioning the clothes had been a mistake. Now he had reverted to confusion again, and he was a little hurt. Well, that was at least something.

"But I am an angel. Everything I do is angelic, by design.“

Beelzebub was very, very tempted to give him a headache and mention that by that generous definition, revolting against the rule of the Almighty, falling, and becoming a demon would have been entirely angelic, too. But the thought was too repulsive, even for themselves.

_I am not a fucking angel! I am fucking an angel! Big difference!_

Beelzebub wasn‘t the demon of temptation, that was someone entirely different, and even that one apparently had enormous difficulties with angels, especially one extremely cunning bastard. But Gabriel certainly wasn‘t the most cunnning one, and it shouldn‘t be hard to sway him, if they paced it right.

"Even angelz have choizez, zometimes, Gabe. And it waz you who offered to touch me, your dezicion. It will burn, I azzure you. But if you want to burn me lezz, reign in your wish to do good. Be more zelfish.“

"But… if I take pleasure in hurting you, I‘ll want to hurt you more.“

"Yezz?“

"That would be bad!“

Now that got him a much bigger smile.

"Yezz, Gabe. That would be bad. That would be _very_ bad.“

He narrowed his eyes. "Bad enough for this to work?

"Only one way to find out.“

He still hesitated, but he didn‘t look like it was because he hadn‘t understood it yet. He looked like he had understood it very well now. Time to push his good side out of the way some more. 

"Do you want to do thizz or not? Becauzze for thizz to work like you want to, you have to really make up your mind.“

Gabriel was good at making up his mind. 

He slowly lifted a hand and reached out for Beelzebub‘s neck. Beelzebub caught his hand in time – a hot, prickling sensation where their hands touched – and brought it to their mouth. They paused the hand right before it would have touched and looked at Gabriel expectantly.

Gabriel completed the move on his own, touching their cheek and the corner of their mouth, letting some of his powers loose. Instantly and intuitively, as a counterreaction, Beelzebub‘s body brought forth some demonic powers, and boils formed on Beelzebub‘s skin where the angel touched it. But they quickly broke open. It actually did sting intensely, not from fire, but from the caustic nature of angelic power, and Beelzebub gasped.

Gabriel blinked, but didn‘t pull his hand back.

Beelzebub turned their head enough to kiss his palm. They had to reign in some of the more demonic impulses not to burn through his hand in return. The kiss made his pretty eyelashes flutter in discomfort, but he left his hand where it was, held by their small hands, more little kisses pressed into it.

Both could feel the boils shrinking, melting away, new, pure skin closing and turning flaming red instead. Only then Gabriel moved his hand, cupping Beelzebub‘s cheek, and because his impossible long fingers, half of their head.

Time to set some boundaries, and have some fun. 

Beelzebub bit the fleshy part of his thumb until they could taste blood, and Gabriel yelled, mostly from surprise.

Beelzebub was pleased. So he did have a realy body here on Earth, so he could bleed.  
Bodies meant fluids, and they were what Beelzebub craved. Even the tiny amount of blood burned like liquor in their mouth. Heavens, yes. They held his hand in an iron grip and licked up more blood that came in small droplets out of the bite wound until the insides of their mouth and throat were raw. But something else came out of the wound, too. Small boils, eating into the pure flesh of the angel with a hiss.

Gabriel hissed too. 

"Beelz, what the fuck?“ he asked, trying to free his hand, but without success.

Beelz gave his wound one more lick, to make their point. "Juzt so you don‘t forget what this feels like on the receiving end,“ they said, and Gabriel looked hurt in more than one way.

As soon as they let go of the hand, it already started healing. Too bad. But their own skin had reverted back to the usual tainted state quickly too, the red glow of his touches already fading. That wouldn‘t do.

"Go ahead, Gabe,“ they demanded. "You wanted thizzz, now want it again. And want it _more_.“


	2. Chapter 2

"I don‘t know why you like being purified, but you do, don‘t you?“

Beelzebub smirked. "It‘z forbidden, demeaning and painful.“

Gabriel looked at all the parts he had touched, how they glowed red and pink, how soft and new and clear the skin had turned there.

"It‘s not going to last, I guess,“ he sighed.

Beelzebub chuckled.

"Thouzandz of yearz I‘ve been marked, and you think you can change that in five minutez? You‘ve got to make more of an effort, featherweight.“

Gabriel thought about it. "I don‘t want to make that kind of effort right now. Did you?“

"Wouldn‘t dream of it.“

"Phew. Good. Very good.“ He grinned and brought his face closer to theirs. "I have an idea, Beelzie.“

"Don‘t call me that. I draw the line at Beelz.“

"Do you now? I think we were all about stepping over the lines today.“

Beelz got suspicious. That didn‘t sound like Gabe at all. Gabe usually didn‘t get ideas. That sounded wrong, and therefor, promising. "What iz that idea of yours? Are you up to no good, Gabe?“

He chuckled and traced their temple with his finger, causing it to turn an aggressive dark red. "I think I want to try something a bit more painful,“ he purred, and Beelzebub almost bit him again from excitement. "I think I can make this more effective.“

Such words, out of the mouth of an angel! Beelzebub wouldn‘t be able to resist him if they tried! As much as they hated giving up control, but seeing the cleanest and most upright of angels tainted, what was a demon going to do except soak it up and enjoy it?

"Do your worst then, Gabe.“

Gabriel beamed happily. Did he even know what radiating that much good feeling did to demons?

"I think you need to lie down for this.“

_Oh heavens, no. ___

____

__

"I don‘t think zzo.“

Gabe would have to come up with quite a few more wicked ideas before Beelzebub was going to give him this much control. They quickly climbed on his lap, wedged him firmly between their thighs and put their arms around his neck.

To their delight, he actually squirmed under them. Just a few moments of unease and actual fear, but very satisfying. 

But then there was the smile again, just not as bright.

"You know, this will work, too,“ he said, and put his arm around them. The many layers of clothing prevented new burns, but one hand moved up to their neck, very close to where their clothes ended and their skin could be touched. 

"Thiz new idea better be good.“

"It‘s selfish!“ he said triumphantly. Angels were such fucking hypocrites. As if his new obsession with purification wasn‘t entirely selfish, too. But he wasn‘t aware of that, apparently. Even now, he was still so… dumb, and yes, innocent. So innocent you could get drunk of, if you weren‘t careful.

Beelzebub smiled. "Iz it? Are you sur you can pull it off?“

Gabriel grinned. "But that‘s the good part, I won‘t have to.“ He brought his face closer to theirs, and his breath prickled on their skin. "I want to purify you, and then you‘ll call me nice things. You‘re going to be affectionate and loving, and I‘m going to like it. Won‘t that hurt a demon like you more than just some little touches can, Beelzie?“

"Hah!“ breathed Beelzebub. That wouldn‘t taint him! And yes, it would absolutely hurt! "Do you have any idea how degrading that would be?“

"I think I‘m going to find out,“ he purred, his hand wandering dangerously close to their neck, his face coming close enough so he could breath right into their hair. "Say something nice to me!“

That had been what they wanted, him giving in to his deep seated wish to hurt a demon, and then have it turned against him. And yes, wasn‘t that an angels dream? To see a demon defeated at their feet, pleading for mercy, and finally being forced to be good. Well, they were not pleading for mercy, that much was certain.

And wasn‘t this lovey-dovey thing so much different from praise? They had started praising Gabriel early on, seeing how well he responded to it. Beelzebub was always generous with critis and praise alike, and they liked their people to strive for their attention. Demons were ambitious and greedy.  
Angels had to be modest, and Gabriel was absolutely parched for compliments. Beelzebub had always showered him in praise, first out of habit, then because it was so efficient to get what they wanted out of Heaven in negotiations. 

Why was this so different? Why was this so hard? 

Why was it easy to say “Gabriel, that waz a very zubztantial contribution”, or “Yez, I can zee you have thought this through” or lie through their teeth and call him shrewd, but so hard to tell him he was beloved, beautiful, desired?

Beelzebub took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll give it a try. You have to do your part right, no half hearted measurez. I want thiz to be the mozt forbidden thing we’ve ever done.”

Yes, that sounded better.

Gabriel was good at following orders. 

He gave Beelzebub a smile that wasn’t very nice, grabbed their neck with one hand, which was a lot of touching already, and a lot of skin breaking up and oozing. But then he took his other hand and moved under their jacket, pulling at their shirt, and that was A LOT.

The shirt came free, and he paused. “What am I?” he asked. 

Beelzebub had to focus through the pain in their neck. “You’re great,” they tried. “You’re doing great.You’re good at this.”

That hadn’t been hard, barely harder than the usual compliments they gave him. Gabriel’s face shone up like, well, a christmas tree, and seeing how happy he was, how much he had needed that, how good it did him, THAT hurt. Angels from up close were bad enough, a happy angel made Beelz want to get away from him. But they didn’t, his hand on their neck was enough to hold them there.

But now his other hand went under their shirt, onto their back. Just the fingertips at first, but then the whole, impossibly large hand rested on their skin, and the skin under his hand didn’t just bubble up and blister away, but the flesh underneath started doing the same.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Beelzebub started moaning from pain. That wasn’t something they could afford in front of their subordinates, and not something they allowed Lucifer to have very often, not that he tried much these days.

“Tell me something nice,” Gabriel’s voice rang in her ear, and it rang like thunder, like a warrior’s cry. This time, it became harder to do it. It felt so much more like being forced, forced by an angel, who had only one goal, destroy the opposition.

But Beelzebub still tried. They suppressed the words that were right there, on the forefront of their mind, they didn’t tell him he was good, and beautiful, not yet. Not yet.

“You’re a menaze to demonkind,” they started, fighting hard against the urge to yell, “You’re zo ztrong, why are you zo ztrong, why are you zo good at this?”

They could do this. They could do this and taint him further.

They lasted until his other hand joined the one on her back, and all was destruction.

They didn’t know how long it lasted, only that they ended up in his arms, shivering, protected, safe. It was over.

“You’re a good angel, Gabe,” they said, with what voice they had left. The words came on their own, without them having to force it. “You shouldn’t do thiz. You’re beautiful and bright and beloved, and doing zuch things will only take away from it. I want you whole, Gabe, I’m zorry I asked you to go zo far. You dezerve better. You’re a good angel, a very good one.”

Their face twitched a bit as they said it, but it didn’t hurt, it didn’t feel humiliating. It felt right.


	3. Chapter 3

“If your zide would win the war, it won’t, but if it would, and you’d capture me, what would you do with me?” 

“We will win, of course!” said Gabriel, with all the conviction of a dutiful angel who never ever questioned his orders, and was more than ready for a challenge, whichever it may be, at any given day.

“Zo, if that would happen, what are your planz for the captivez?” asked Beelzebub. They didn’t only ask for their own sake, of course. Right now, sitting on Gabriel’s lap, their head on his shoulder, in his arm, it was a bit more personal. But it was a question they would have brought up sooner or later anyway, and now seemed as good a time as any.

The long pause before Gabriel answered wasn’t good news. “I didn’t assume there would be any. I mean. Decisive battle, vanquish the forces of evil. We’re not having this war to have to bother with evil any more afterwards.”

Beelzebub hummed against his chest.

“Funny,” they said. “Zeeing how purifying me waz zomething you’ve been wanting zo much, and conzidering it worked, zo clearly thiz would be an option?”

Gabriel made a small, disapproving noise, but at the same time, his arm around them pulled them closer. Protective that he was.

“Yes, it worked, but only temporary,” he said. “Your core is evil, so all new flesh will be tainted again. When you fell, weren’t all parts that had been good lost forever?”

Now he came with the compliments. Beelzebub wanted to bite him for that, get some angelic good in them right now, burn their mouth on him, hear him cry out. But this was not the moment for distractions.

“Who zayz they can’t be replazed?” asked Beelzebub.

“Would you even wish that? Would any demon even want that, when right now they hate all that’s good?”

They exhaled and sank further against him.

“All I wish iz for thiz to end,” they said. “I’ve given Hell all I could, and I think I’ve done well, but it’z enough now. But all the other demonz are mine, mine to lead out of Hell. I don’t want to think there’z nowhere to lead them but deztruction.”

“Ah, so you admit you’ll lose!”

“We can win thiz. Azzuming that the Allmighty doezn’t take zidez. But I want my demonz to have a future whether we win thiz or not. I have to plan for all eventualitiez.”

That was certainly a new way of thinking for Gabriel.

“I’ve never considered we’d lose, and I think if we would, the question of what would become of us wouldn’t arise. I mean, demons are viscious, and they strive for destruction.”

“Oh, but I’ve made planz for what to do with you, don’t you worry,” purred Beelzebub. They felt him startle.

“You have? Really?”

“Hm, yes, I have. Lotz of planz.”

“That’s… I don’t know if I like that.”

Beelzebub chuckled.

“Beelz,” said Gabriel. “I don’t want to… I’m sorry, I have to say it in plain words, I don’t want to go to Hell.”

Beelzebub caressed his chest with their hand. “That wouldn’t happen. The whole idea of thiz war is for uz not to be confined to Hell anymore,” they said. “We want Heaven. You could go to Heaven with me.”

“As a… demon?”

“M-hm.”

“Tha… a… bu… “ Gabriel shook his head. “No!” he said. “No, that would be so wrong. No. No!”

“You’d make a gloriouz demon,” said Beelzebub, wrapping an arm around him. “I mean, you’re a great angel now, but I don’t know if we can let you all be angelz when we capture you. That’d be a bit dangerouz, having a living weapon as a zlave?”

“Slave?”

Beelzebub could feel him get restless.

“We’re all in chainz now, Gabe, shouldn’t you be uzed to it? You’re no more free than I am.”

“That is the slanderous talk of a demon, undermining good for the sake of destruction.”

“Gabe, if you don’t zztop rezziting thizz zzhit, I have to bite you, and not in the fun way. But think about it. Wouldn’t loozing the war make you all fall anyway? After all, it’d be your fault if the world was lozt to the forces of evil, it might well grant you a very long Fall.”

That silenced him. Beelzebub regretted their pace. They should have spaced this out a bit. Unfortunately, they didn’t have as much time as it would take to break this down in Gabrielbrain-sized pieces.

“Don’t worry, Gabe,” they said, starting to rock both of them. “I’ve made lots of planz for you az an angel az well, if you get to ztay one.”

He stuggled with that, she could feel it.

“Beelz… I think I’m not going to like any of your plans, I’m sorry.”

“Then make your own. Give me a plan for your defeat, if it’z good, I’ll trade you mine for it.”

“Trade… as in… giving it up? Replacing it?”

“Yes, Gabe.”

“Why? What would you want in return?”

Beelzebub turned around and climbed until they straddled him and could properly face him. They didn’t want to separate from him more than necessary though, so they put their arm around his neck.

His eyes were fully on them, the beginning of understanding dawning.

“Archangel Gabriel,” Beelzebub said, in the voice that got them his full attention. “You’re the only one I will azk thiz, because you’re the only one who liztenz. You’ve never dizmizzed anything I zay without thinking about it. So, pleaze, lizten to me now.

I remember Heaven before the firzt war. I remember how many angelz there were. Zo many, Heaven was full of them. And now, only ten million left. Zo many who fell, zo many who were diztroyed. Izn’t Heaven feeling empty already? And now think of how much emptier it will be after the next war. 

Iz it really your only plan, to win and be left in an even emptier Heaven? You could fill it with uz demonz. You could bring uz back home. That’z all we want. That’z the only thing we fight for. To be allowed to go home again. Do you underztand that?”

They held his gaze, until he understood. Until his eyes, his beautiful eyes, started to swim in tears, until tears slowly flowed down his face.

Beelzebub wanted to lick them away, kiss them away, bite him, mix blood into the brilliance that were angels tears.

But they weren’t theirs to take. All they could do was to witness them, and cherish them, in the knowledge that they shared the same pain, for once.


End file.
